There are two areas where many fleet managers would like to see improvement: safety and productivity. Some try to go about it by micromanaging their drivers to the point of exasperation. The truth is, nagging your employees toward better performance rarely works and can often backfire. It creates a feeling of hostility between workers and management and may even lead disgruntled employees to seek employment elsewhere. Fortunately, there’s a better option—one that’s less “big brother” and more “way to go.”
Rather than attempting to force your driver to improve their driving habits, motivate them with workplace gamification. This creates a fun atmosphere of friendly competition while rewarding top performers and keeping employees happy with their workplace.
What Is Gamification?
Simply put, gamification is the act of turning a necessary task into a game. You may remember the concept from your childhood as Mary Poppins taught her young charges how to clean their room, but the idea goes far beyond the nursery. In fact, many of the top companies in the world use gamification principles to motivate their employees every day.
Workplace gamification is a superb motivator. This can be accomplished through sales goals with a prize for the employee with the most revenue generated. Call center employees may earn points based on successful resolutions or customer satisfaction. In other departments, it may mean developing an actual game for employees to play that demonstrates their understanding of training standards or company goals. Whatever the case, the most important aspect is that coworkers have a chance to engage in friendly competition with a specific goal in mind.
How Do Driver Scores Relate?
It’s easy to gamify a workplace where everyone is in the same room or at least the same building. But what about commercial fleets where drivers are rarely in the same place at the same time? Gamification can be a challenge when your workforce is spread out and always on the go, at least until you implement telematics data to give each driver a score.
Driver scores can consider all sorts of data points. Simple programs measure miles driven or jobs completed, but these may actually encourage reckless behaviors such as speeding. Instead, look for a program that measures based on good driving habits as a safe fleet will always be more productive in the long run. Here are a few more tips to implementing a successful driver score program:
- Track specific metrics that lead to a safer, more efficient fleet.
- Be sure to let drivers know exactly what is being measured.
- Ensure each driver can see their own score and where they stand in the rankings.
- Include tips or training options drivers can use to improve their scores.
At the end of a certain period, reward the drivers with the best scores with a gift card, a day off, or a free lunch at their favorite restaurant. Be sure the prize is big enough to motivate participation without being so big as to create conflict.
Reward Top Drivers and Motivate Others to Improve
If creating and implementing a robust driver score program seems too complicated, we have good news. Azuga makes it easy with our Driver Safety Rewards program. We’ll track your drivers, assign scores based on their on-road behaviors, and give them a leaderboard to easily track their own scores. With Azuga Coach we’ll even provide customized training programs with helpful instructional videos to boost each driver’s safety score.
It’s easy to automate rewards for top-scoring drivers, too. Simply set a budget and frequency and we’ll send your winning drivers a link to claim a gift card as a reward for their excellent safety habits.
You have enough on your plate. Let Azuga Customer Success manage your driver safety rewards program for a happier, safer, and more productive fleet. Contact our rewards as a service team today to learn more.
